Minnesota Sports Briefs: U men's hoops to play on Thanksgiving

• University of Minnesota

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ORLANDO - The University of Minnesota men's basketball team is in Orlando, Florida getting ready for the Old Spice Classic.

The Golden Gophers open the tournament Thursday afternoon against DePaul with the tip-off at 1 p.m. Sophomore guard Austin Hollins says he believes the Gophers can win the championship. Last season, Minnesota beat North Carolina and West Virginia to win the Puerto Rico Tip-Off holiday tournament.

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The Minnesota Wild and Nashville Predators face off for the first time of the season tonight (Wed 7pm) at the Xcel Energy Center in St.Paul. Nashville won three of four meetings with Minnesota last year. The Wild are on a four-game win streak and tied for the league lead with 27 points. Coach Mike Yeo says he plans to start Niklas Backstrom between the pipes this evening. Minnesota is coming off a 3-2 shoot-out win over the Blues Sunday while the Predators lost at home last night to Edmonton 6-2. Defenseman Marco Scandella is expected to return to the ice tonight for the Wild.

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SCORES

Here are last night's men's basketball scores in the MIAC:

UW-Eau Claire 77, Hamline 75

UW-River Falls 79, St.Thomas 64

Northwestern 70, Macalester 58

Bethel 71, Buena Vista 56

Augsburg 89, North Central 55

MSU-Moorhead 96, Concordia 56

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MIAC women's results:

Elmhurst 63, Saint Mary's 58

Augsburg 70, North Central 46

Macalester 63, Northwestern College 50

Bethel 65, Bethany Lutheran 41

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Here are Tuesday's men's basketball scores in the Northern Sun:

Bemidji State 70, UW-Stout 57

Concordia-St.Paul 78, Waldorf 68

Minnesota-Crookston 79, St.Scholastica 53

Minnesota-Duluth 75, UW-Superior 54

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Northern Sun women's results:

Minnesota Duluth 74, U-W Superior 54

Winona State 84, Clark 39

St.Cloud State 93, UW-Stout 34

Minnesota Crookston 76, Valley City State 60

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